Oral & Poster Presentation Abstracts - The University of Alabama

Oral & Poster Presentation Abstracts
Katheryn Adam, Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Marco Bonizzoni, Chemistry
An off-the-shelf sensing system for physiologically relevant phosphates
We have developed a chemical sensing system that can differentiate biologically relevant phosphates
(nucleoside diphosphates, pyrophosphate) in neutral water solution using only commercially available
components. Our approach uses a common fluorescent indicator and a poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)
polycationic receptor to construct an indicator displacement assay (IDA). The system crucially relies on
multivariate data collection and analysis. In fact, using different phosphates in the dye-displacement
assay results in subtle differences in the optical signals; however, it is not possible to capture this
information using classical univariate data presentation techniques. Instead, we rely on principal
component analysis, a multivariate data analysis technique, to evaluate these differences and thus
distinguish between the biologically relevant phosphates. We will also present supporting data reporting
on the anion binding capabilities of the PAMAM system acquired using optical spectroscopy methods.

Alison Adams, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Laura Reed, Biological Sciences
QTL affecting genotype-by-diet interactions of larval triglyceride levels
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a complex disease that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the world
today. It is identified by an assortment of symptoms such as obesity, insulin resistance, and elevated
blood lipids. This disease and its various phenotypes can be modeled in Drosophila melanogaster. In a
previous study of MetS, our lab implemented a round-robin crossing scheme on approximately 800
isogenic lines from a recombinant inbred line population, and a linear regression was used to determine
genotype, diet, and genotype-by-diet interactions. Statistical analysis revealed quantitative trait loci
(QTL) associated with larval triglyceride levels. Here we report on the functional analysis of genes within
the QTL significant for gene-by-environment interactions through differential gene expression and the
testing of mutant triglyceride levels.

Ashley Alexander, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Secor, Biological Sciences
Testing the Cooking Hypothesis in Human Evolution
Cooking of food has been hypothesized to have had a significant impact on human evolution. Cooking
softens food thereby reducing the time and energy of chewing and digestion, therefore more food can
be consumed at a lower cost, and more energy can be allocated to growth and reproduction. We tested
this hypothesis by feeding raw and cooked sweet potato and carrot to the omnivorous bearded dragon
(Pogona vitticeps) and measuring the effort of chewing and the cost of digestion. Pieces of raw sweet
potato and carrots required 3 and 4 times more chews, respectively, than pieces of cooked. Both raw
vegetables also required twice the time of digestion compared to cooked. Using closed system
respirometry, we determined that lizards expended 40% more energy digesting raw sweet potato and
carrots compared to cooked. Our data demonstrate the energetic advantage of consuming cooked
versus raw foods. Our findings support the hypothesis that the advent of cooking had a significant
impact in human evolution.

Stephen Allen, Economics, Finance and Legal Studies
Faculty Mentor: Matt Van Essen, Economics, Finance and Legal Studies

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Stress Testing a Fundamental Prediction in Game Theory
A procedure and program was designed to test a particular strategic situation in which number effects
are the primary factor expected to drive the behavior of the various test participants. A certain result is
expected for any even number of players and a different result is expected with any odd number of
players. The test was designed to test at what point the unintuitive nature of number effects causes
participants to deviate from the expected outcome.
The situation involved a prize that players must risk their initial endowment to pursue and whether or
not they capture the prize or not is dependent on the actions of others. In an odd number of players
situation, the players were expected to attempt to capture the prize in the first round but only the first
round. In an even number of players game, it was expected that the Nash Equilibrium would have all
players inactive in order to protect their initial endowments.
Upon testing, it was discovered that for all but the simplest cases of the strategic situation, the expected
Nash Equilibrium does not play out as anticipated but rather players exhibit a max-min behavior. Rather
than acting according to the perfectly rational predictions, players, unaware of how the other players
will act, choose to maximize their worst case scenario by choosing inaction unless they are the only
player remaining in the situation.

Liz Alley, Information Systems, Statistics and Management Science
Spencer Baer, Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Felecia Wood, Capstone College of Nursing
Diabetes101: an iOS application
The purpose of this project was to develop a tool to improve health literacy and self-management skills
in rural adults with type 2 diabetes. Many rural adults read at less than a high school level, which means
that they probably struggle with reading most patient education materials. Diabetes101 is an iOS app
that introduces users to fundamental concepts and terminology related to type 2 diabetes and self-
management. The app was piloted at two clinics in Walker County, Alabama, and includes videos filmed
in Walker County to help participants see "people like them" effectively managing diabetes. The videos
address shopping, cooking, collaborating with health care providers, engaging in physical activity, and
coping with the emotional challenges of living with type 2 diabetes. Brief quizzes assess diabetes
knowledge. A dictionary introduces medical terminology. And an exercise assessment provides
guidelines for engaging in physical activity.

Samuel Andersen, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Chelley Alexander, Community Health Sciences
The impact of lay worker education on the frequency of ER visits and hospitalization and use of
preventive medication and rescue inhalers in asthma patients
The direct and indirect medical cost attributed to asthma in the US last year was over $50 billion. Many
interventions have been proposed to bring down this cost, however the issue seems far from solved.
Though there is no cure for this condition, medications such as inhaled corticosteroids exist and are
capable of preventing asthma attacks if taken properly. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
care guidelines recommend physicians provide their patients with a written action plan as a part of
checkups, yet one survey showed that as few as 25% of physicians comply with this recommendation. To
address this situation, this prospective, year-long study seeks to answer the question: can a cheap and
simple intervention be found to bring down the cost associated with asthma and improve patient quality
of life? Symptom-based written action plans will be administered to study participants by lay people
(University of Alabama students, in this study) and benchmarks such as trips to the emergency
department as well as number of refills on controller and emergency medications will be monitored
over the course of a year.

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Ali Anderson, Capstone College of Nursing
Emily Bates, Capstone College of Nursing
Lindsey Badham, Capstone College of Nursing
Jeremy Blount, Capstone College of Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Paige Johnson, Capstone College of Nursing
Childhood Obesity: An Interactive Approach for Parents & Children
Health promotion is the process of enabling individuals to gain control over and improve their health. It
goes beyond a focus of individual behavior towards a wide variety of social and environmental
interventions. The purpose of health promotion is to increase the wellbeing of the individuals in the
community by teaching positive life style changes. These changes will influence all aspects of the
individual's health. In order to implement these health promotion behaviors, the community must be
assessed to identify risk factors and resources needed to evaluate and improve health. A community
assessment is achieved through systemic collections which include windshield surveys, observations,
and interviews with community members. This data is then analyzed to determine the specific needs of
the community. Interventions supported by evidence-based practice are then implemented to promote
the particular health care needs of the community. This presentation will demonstrate a community
assessment of Duncanville, AL in Tuscaloosa County. Features such as resources, needs, and
demographics are shown to identify the problems of the community. The major health concern is
identified, and the intervention is supported by evidence-based practice to address the main concern.

Travis Atchley, Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Silas Blackstock, Chemistry
Donor-Acceptor Cocrystallization for Molecular Assembly
The synthesis of donor-acceptor cocrystals is of valuable interest in organic chemistry to probe the
nature of attractive interactions between molecules. Some instances of cocrystallization lead to
unexpected, yet intriguing, results in terms of special electronic interactions between the donor and
acceptor components and the resulting macroscopic electronic properties of the cocrystal that may
result. Two such instances are found in the cocrystallization of phenyl-substituted pyrazoles, DPOX and
4HP (e-donors, D) with the e-poor quinone, DDQ (pi* e-acceptor, A). The binding of these molecules
yields D2A cocrystals that feature lp*/pi*/lp* D-A-D triads. The packing of these triads lead to in-plane
assembly of DDQ molecules and pi-stacking of the donors in the cocrystal solid.

Parker Baxter, Geological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Joe Lambert, Geological Sciences
How Stalagmites are Used in Paleoclimate Research in the Southeast (USA)
Many unanswered questions exist with respect to predicting changes in regional rainfall patterns over
the next 50-100 years because of the complexity of the Earth's climate system and our limited
understanding of how global climate change will affect particular areas. In the Southeast, it is vital that
we try to understand changes in future rainfall because rainwater is the sole source for recharging
surface and subsurface reservoirs, which are continuously used for drinking water in addition to
agricultural, industrial, and recreational needs. In an effort to better understand climate change,
scientists are researching periods of climate variability over the past several thousand years. Archives of
past climate conditions include, but are not limited to, cave deposits, lake and ocean sediments, ice
sheets, and ancient trees. Cave deposits, such as stalagmites, can be dependable climate archives
because they (i) preserve various proxies for past climate conditions (eg., rainfall amount) outside the
cave, (ii) have the potential to provide long and continuous high-resolution records, and (iii) can be
accurately dated by multiple methods. Over the past decade, our research group has been developing
paleo-rainfall records for the Southeast from multiple stalagmites collected from two caves in Alabama.

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In this presentation we will introduce this type of research, show our current interpretations from
DeSoto Caverns, and discuss our preliminary results from Cathedral Caverns.

Zach Beasley, Psychology
Bryan Poole, Psychology (Lee Universtiy)
Sydney Gruber, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Phillip Gable, Psychology
Time Perception in Negative Affects: The Role of Motivational Direction
Time flies when you're having fun, but how does time pass when you're upset? The current experiment
investigated the impact of motivational direction in sad and anger states on time perception. In two
experiments, we induced approach- and withdrawal-motivated sad (Experiment 1) or angry (Experiment
2) states. Participants wrote about a personal situation when they felt either approach- or withdrawal-
motivated sadness or anger. After writing, they viewed a sad film (Exp 1) or anger film (Exp 2) and rated
how long the film lasted. Results indicate that approach-motivated sadness and anger caused perceived
time to pass more quickly than withdrawal motivated sadness. In two diverse negative states, these
results support the conceptual model linking approach-motivated affective states to faster perceptions
of time, and withdrawal-motivated affective states to slower perceptions of time.

Jonathan Belanich, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Secor, Biological Sciences
Tarantulas vs. Scorpions: Digestive energetics and efficiencies of drinking versus eating
The processing of any meal comes with a cost; a cost that impacts the net energy gained and therefore
is incorporated into the efficiency by which energy is acquired. Within the class Arachnida, tarantulas
are liquid feeders using oral mastication and enzymes to produce an ingestible liquid sludge, whereas
scorpions masticate and ingest small pieces of their prey. To a common meal, crickets, and body
temperature, 30C, we examined how two arachnid groups differ in the cost of meal digestion and net
energy efficiency. For three species of tarantulas and five species of scorpions we measured their
postprandial metabolic response and quantified their SDA, which represents the accumulative energy
expended on meal ingestion and assimilation. Both groups experienced a rapid postprandial increase in
metabolic rate that peaked within 6ˆ’12 hours after feeding and returned to prefeeding values within
two days. Tarantula and scorpion SDA averaged 20.8 kJ kgˆ’1 and 42.2 kJ kgˆ’1, respectively, and each
was highly dependent on meal size. We found that when controlling for meal energy, scorpions expend
80% more energy on digestion and assimilation compared to tarantulas, however the differences in their
SDA were not significant. We suspect that the lower SDA for tarantulas reflects their more liquidˆ’like
diet and less postˆ’ingestion effort. Alternatively, the cost of meal digestion may be more similar
between the two when including the cost for tarantulas of mastication and enzyme production.

Jonathan Belanich, Anthropology
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Lynn, Anthropology
Sex and Lies: A Study of Cultural Knowledge and Mating Success
This study compares various indicators of mating-relevant self-deception and self-awareness to proxies
of mating success. Self-deception, when looked at in the context of human mating, can prove to be a
useful tool that may allow individuals to deceptively self-promote without displaying the "tells" that are
indicative of lying. To test this, an online survey was created and publicized to get responses. We
received a total of 120 responses from both males (N=45) and females (N=75), and had a wide age range
(18-60+). The survey contained two parts: in the first responders were asked questions about previous
sexual encounters and habits, and in the second responders were asked about their familiarity with
cultural objects and people, such as beer, musicians and hobbies. In the second part, false items were

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mixed in with the real ones. The amount of true and false positives is a measure of "overclaiming."
Correlations were run to look at reactions between different variables, and from these, we were able to
identify several significant interactions. Regressions were then run using overclaiming as the
independent variable and indices of mating success as dependent variables. Results indicate correlation
between the degree of overclaiming and the number of intercourse partners. Therefore it is possible
that self-awareness when moderated by self-deception could improve chances of maximizing the total
number of intercourse partners.

Luke Bishop, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Ryan Earley, Biological Sciences
Revealing the Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds on the Behavior and Physiology of Fish: Dose-
Response Relationships
In today's world, the environment is under a constant threat of damage from industry. A primary
example of this is the mangrove habitat, a valuable ecosystem that is home to a wide variety of species
and a breeding site for many marine fishes. However, wastewater treatment plant effluent, which
contains many chemicals known as endocrine disrupting compounds, is threatening mangrove habitat.
These chemicals can disrupt hormone levels and internal homeostasis of organisms exposed to them.
Our experiment examines the effects of two such compounds (ethinyl estradiol and nonylphenol) on the
behavior, physiology, and gonad morphology of the mangrove rivulus fish. These chemicals have
dramatic effects on reproduction, anxiety-like behavior, and aggression. They can cause increased
vulnerability to predation and decreased aggression in males. However, we know little about whether
low versus high environmentally relevant doses of these chemicals have different effects on the fish. We
thus propose to expose the fish to various doses of the endocrine disrupting compounds for a set time
and ascertain the behavioral and physiological consequences of exposure. We will test the fish based on
their aggression, boldness, fear response, and hormone levels. With the effects of the endocrine
disrupting compounds studied and quantified, we can then determine the potential threat level to the
mangrove ecosystem to ensure its safety and the safety of all its inhabitants.

Ruth Bishop, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Laura Reed, Biological Sciences
The Roles of Endocannabinoids and Their Chemical Relatives in Drosophila melanogaster Metabolism
Endocannabinoids are endogenous neuromodulatory lipids that bind to cannabinoid receptors. They
are involved in lipid metabolism and appetite, making them and their chemical relatives interesting to
study in the context of metabolic syndrome. Despite previous bioinformatic analyses of gene sequences
suggesting that the cannabinoid system is absent in insects, we have found in metabolomic analyses
that L-DOPA and N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) levels are correlated with pupal weight, triglyceride
levels, and total sugar levels; evidence pointing to these compounds' roles in Drosophila metabolism.
We selected 6 compounds for this study, 2-AG, anandamide, L-DOPA, Dopamine HCl, capsaicin, and
NADA, because they were either ligands to mammalian cannabinoid receptors or involved in dopamine
or NADA synthesis pathways. We first conducted a dose response curve to determine if these
compounds would negatively affect survivability. Finding no such effects, larvae from five genetic lines
were fed 100 µM of these compounds to determine whether pupal weight, triglyceride levels, or glucose
levels were affected. We found that these compounds had line specific effects on these phenotypes,
although we did not find consistent phenotype changes across all genetic lines. Based on these findings,
it is unclear whether endocannabinoids play a role in Drosophila melanogaster metabolism since these
compounds did not consistently affect glucose/ triglyceride levels or pupal weight.

Elizabeth Bistrong, Psychology

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Faculty Mentor: John Lochman, Psychology
Effects of the April 27, 2011 Tornado on Parental Functioning
This research examines the way in which the tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa impacted the way
parents function and interact with their children. The data was collected from families of moderate to
highly aggressive children in Dr. Lochman's Coping Power Program. Changes in parental functioning
were analyzed using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, The Beck Depression Inventory and the
Caregiver Stain Questionnaire- Short Form. These measures were collected before and after the tornado
and provide an assessment of change in parent's individual behavior as well as parenting behaviors.
Results indicated that parents felt less caregiver strain after the tornado than before, but that that there
was no significant change in types of parenting or parental depression over time. After the tornado
parent's poor parenting was more related to low levels of inconsistent discipline and poor parental
monitoring than before the tornado. Implications of these results will be discussed.

Joshua Blackwell, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Juan Lopez-Bautista, Biological Sciences
Digitizing the algal herbarium of The University of Alabama
Authors: Joshua Blackwell, Frederik Leliaert, Steve Ginzbarg, Juan Lopez-Bautista
Natural history collections serve a highly important purpose in the scientific community. Algal herbaria,
in particular, contribute significantly to the identification and classification of specimens, and act as a
record of morphology, evolution, and geographical distribution of species. Specimens housed within
herbaria can also be used to acquire molecular data, which is the basis of genomic analysis. As such
valuable resources, it is vital that the contents of University collections such as algal herbaria be
digitized, and thereby made available to the public. Only when information becomes accessible can it
become useful for researchers, educators, and students.
Prior to the current project, the University of Alabama has not published information regarding any of
the algal specimens contained within the herbarium. The University's collection contains over 1000
specimens of green, red, and brown algae, including many deep-water specimens (down to 50 m) from
the Gulf of Mexico. These collections are especially valuable to study shifts in species distributions
resulting from increased anthropogenic activity in this region.
The goal of the current project is to database this material, making digital information and images
available on the University's herbarium website, as well as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
(GBIF) website.

Emmie Bodiford, Journalism
Faculty Mentor: Chip Brantley, Journalism
Anatomy of a Trial
Anatomy of a Trial is a service learning class introduced to the University of Alabama in 2013 by
professors Chip Brantley and Andrew Grace. The class consists of seven undergraduate and graduate
students interested in exploring the Alabama Justice system. Through the context of one capital murder
case from 1980s, information concerning the structure and processes of the Alabama Justice system was
compiled through a group effort. The findings highlight unique aspects of various problems with the
current Alabama justice system as well as changes it has experienced over the past several decades.

Hannah Bowers, Chemical and Biological Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Margaret Liu, Chemical and Biological Engineering
High-Level Expression of Targeted Anti-Cancer Biopharmaceuticals Using CHO Cell
Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell, the most popular mammalian cell used in the biopharmaceutical
industry, was used to develop a production cell line to express the targeted anti-cancer therapeutic

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protein. Lonza GS vector system was applied to construct the over-expression plasmid of monoclonal
antibody IgG1 for high-producing CHO K1/IgG cell line construction. The methionine sulfoximine (MSX)
amplification and glutamine-free selection were performed to select and amplify IgG production.
Multiple single clones were obtained using limiting dilution cloning, producing about 350-800 mg/L of
IgG. The glycosylation of produced protein will be analyzed to define the lead clone for the process
development of anti-cancer biopharmaceutical production.

Leah Bradford, Telecommunication and Film
Drew Bryant, Telecommunication and Film
Taylor Crosby, Telecommunication and Film
Sarah Hollingsworth, Telecommunication and Film
Faculty Mentor: Chandra Clark, Telecommunication and Film
City of Alberta: Looking to the Future
Along with the citizens of Alberta, our team is working to re-brand the community. After the devastation
of the April 27th tornado, Alberta was left destroyed but the community has a lot on its horizon! This
spring, Tuscaloosa Parks and Recreation Authority will break ground on the new tennis complex that will
have numerous courts and host tournaments from around the country. Later this year, the new Alberta
School will be opening and will specialize in fine arts education. With the help of Councilman Kip Tyner,
our team is constructing new websites and social media sites to bring Alberta to the forefront of the
Tuscaloosa area. We are working to give the community of Alberta an outlet to use for updates and
information about the area using videos on the website. Using Instagram and Vine, we are able to
promote upcoming events such as business openings and ground-breakings. My team and I are working
as Alberta's unofficial marketing team using our experience and knowledge about social media and
community interests. Our team communicates with our client, officially listed as Kip Tyner, weekly to
assess our progress and what is needed for the community project. This week alone we are meeting
with Mayor Walt Maddox and the Alberta community to present our developments and will present the
final product later this month.

Travis Brady, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Faculty Mentor: Vinu Unnikrishnan, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Computational Modeling of Normal and Cancerous Cells
The purpose of this study is to determine the various mechanical properties of a nonhomogeneous
eukaryotic cancer cell. While the cell itself is nonhomogeneous, it can be divided into three
homogeneous regions (nucleus, cytoplasm, actin cortex) to simplify the analysis. The homogenous
properties of the various regions of the cell are obtained using mathematical homogenization
techniques and are then analyzed using finite element analysis. Various indentation conditions are
simulated and the deformation profile of the cell is obtained. The ultimate aim of this study is to
understand and compare the deformation profiles of various types of cancerous cells and normal
healthy cells. Such a study would be helpful in identification and prevention of cancerous cells
throughout the circulatory system of the human body.

Hannah Brewer, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Karen Salekin, Psychology
Juror Perception of Culpability and Its Impact on Verdict and Sentencing: Defendants With and Without
Intellectual Disability
In 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided that offenders with intellectual disability (ID) could
not be executed due to their reduced level of culpability (Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 2002). Previous
studies show that jurors view defendants with ID as less culpable than their non-disabled counterparts

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(Garvey, 1998; Najdowski & Bottoms, 2012). This study looked at intelligence quotient (IQ) and adaptive
behavior (AB) deficits to see if they factored into jury decision-making regarding level of culpability for
defendants with ID and those who barely miss the cut score(s) for ID using 544 jury-eligible college
participants recruited from a psychology department subject pool. Participants were presented with a
vignette of an altercation resulting in a charge of aggravated assault in which IQ and onset of AB deficits
of the defendant were manipulated. Participants then completed a questionnaire measuring (1)
culpability, (2) ratings of IQ and AB deficits, and (3) weight of factors on sentence. It was found that IQ
but not age of onset of AB deficits impact how jurors perceive culpability of defendants and having an IQ
below the bright line standard of 70 increases the likelihood that a defendant will be found not guilty or
not guilty by reason of insanity. Further research should be conducted to determine what factors other
than IQ and AB lead jurors to believe that ID or borderline ID defendants are less culpable than their
non-disabled counterparts.

Christian Brewton, Computer Science
Anna Zimmerman, History
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Lovell, Computer Science
Determining the Mood of Someone Through Facebook Feeds
The purpose of this research topic is to assay the messages someone posts on Facebook to compute
their mood. By using the Facebook API and Facebook Query Language (FQL) one is able to parse
through a user's Facebook messages and pick out keywords and weight them accordingly to try to get an
accurate percentage of what mood he or she is in. Facebook emoticons can also be quite helpful
because one can get a pretty accurate idea of what mood the Facebook poster was in at that time. This
idea can be expanded to even calculate your friends moods, and the user can get an idea of what he or
she's friends are feeling. Moods can be spread through Facebook in the same way that mood can
spread through human interaction. According to researchers happiness tends to spread more efficiently
than any other mood.

John Brinkerhoff, Communication Studies
Faculty Mentor: Jason Black, Communication Studies
The World's Great Father: Paternalistic Rhetoric's Continuities in U.S. Presidential Interventionist
Discourse
This essay explores the rhetorical continuities of paternalistic rhetoric within the addresses that
surround two key interventions in U.S. history: Andrew Jackson's first three Annual Messages to
Congress, which sought to advocate and defend the Indian Removal Act, and Truman's Address before a
joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947, which proposed what would later become known as the
Truman Doctrine. Both interventions, as well as the legitimation tactics behind them, were foundational
in the formation of U.S. foreign policy. This study contends that their use of paternalistic rhetoric
created a foundation of paternalism at the core of U.S. foreign policy both historically and
contemporarily. This essay identifies similarities in their use of paternalistic rhetoric through its identity
constructions of a self/other dichotomy that legitimizes intervention by the self to assist a helpless
other. This dichotomy coalesces into four key components: Self as Father, Self as Benevolent, Other as
Weak, and Other as Facing Crisis. This study argues that these themes, when taken together, have
created a prominent strand of rhetoric that has remained consistent in presidential intervention
addresses, even as the surrounding contexts shift.

Cole Buchanan, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Glenn Davis, Community Health Sciences
Investigating the Effects of Fatigue in Emergency Medical Service Providers

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Emergency Medical Service Providers provide out-of-hospital medical care in emergency situations. The
majority of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in the state of Alabama routinely work 24 hour
shifts, sometimes consecutively. Our purpose is to determine if the quality of EMT performance late at
night is different from the quality of EMT performance during the day. The initial stage of this study
consisted of an electronic survey sent to EMTs statewide to determine their perceptions of the effects of
fatigue on performance. Data gathered from the survey included information on demographics, sleep
patterns, use of stimulants on and off shift, and perceptions of how fatigue affects quality of care at
different times during a 24 hour shift. To expand on the findings of this survey, a study was developed
utilizing performance based trials to compare performance of paramedics from Tuscaloosa Fire and
Rescue Services in the morning to their performance late at night. Trials measured basic skills including
intubation and CPR performance in a simulated medical emergency. Data from these trials provides
insight into the quality of care given by EMTs over the course of a 24 hour shift.

Katy Buddemeyer, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Secor, Biological Sciences
Negative Calorie Food: Fact or Fiction?
Though countless online sources claim that certain foods are "negative calories," requiring more energy
to digest and assimilate compared to calories absorbed, there have been no scientific studies to support
or refute this assertion. To assess the validity of this idea, we fed celery, a noted "negative calorie
food," to omnivorous bearded dragons (Pagona vitticeps) and quantified the caloric intake, energy
expended in consumption and digestion, and the assimilation efficiency in order to determine the net
gain of energy. Lizards assimilated ~70% of ingested celery calories and expended ~90% of that energy
on digestion and assimilation. Celery intake therefore resulted in a small net gain of energy, challenging
the widespread claim that celery is a negative calorie food.

Alex Bullough, Capstone College of Nursing
Paul Brooks, Capstone College of Nursing
Morgan Buko, Capstone College of Nursing
Meagan Busby, Capstone College of Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Paige Johnson, Capstone College of Nursing
Educating Brookwood about Nutrition
Nutritional education is the process of teaching a specified group the importance of a healthy diet.
Nutritional education promotion is a positive way to influence the community. Interjecting our positive
nutritional views into an extremely tight-knit community requires a trusting medium, such as the local
church organizations. Establishing rapport with a very involved member of the church community can
aid us in spreading the word of healthy eating and good nutrition. Nutrition affects all aspects of life. It is
extensively involved in many disease processes, preventable and inevitable. A change in nutrition can
help drastically change the health of individual. Helping the community understand nutrition's
importance and benefits in their daily lives will encourage them to make positive changes. Our
community health project will focus on educating the adult population in a comfortable and safe setting
about healthy eating.

David Burkhalter, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Milton Ward, Biological Sciences
Analysis of The Potential Ecological Impact of Controlled River Water Withdrawals on Floodplain
Ecosystems Using 3D Modeling
Our nation's food supply is currently heavily dependent upon crop production in the West. Production
in this arid climate, however, depends heavily on irrigation from snow melt high in the Rocky Mountains.

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Many future climate scenarios indicate less snowfall in the West, and therefore, reduced availability of
irrigation water. To reduce the ensuing economic spike, an alternative proposal is to capture and utilize
the high winter flow in the rivers of the southeastern US, and create an agricultural environment that is
more resilient to the drought seasons. This research explores the feasibility of withdrawing excess river
water and storing it offline for summer use. It also considers the ecological impact of withdrawal on
hydrologic regimes in rivers and the environmental consequences of withdrawal on adjacent floodplains
that depend on river floods.
This study was designed to examine potential impacts of four river-floodplain environments in the
Southeastern US. Using USGS flow data and NOAA LiDAR data for each site, we built a 3-D computer
generated hydraulic model to predict the frequency, extent, and duration of flooding. These models
produced inundation maps that illustrated the relationship between flow rates and inundation extent.
Through analysis of these maps, we may more accurately understand the ecological consequences of
water withdrawal scenarios on our river systems.

Maranda Burns, Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: David Dixon, Chemistry
Comprehensive Study of the Bond-dissociation Pathways for Glycine and Alanine Dipeptide Anions and
their Corresponding Amides
Computational studies of bond-dissociation pathways in small anionic peptides have been performed to
determine the bond energies of the backbone bonds. The reaction enthalpies of glycine, alanine,
diglycine, and dialanine anions and their corresponding amides have been calculated using the reliable
correlated molecular orbital theory G3MP2 method to determine the lowest energy dissociation
pathways. Extensive conformational sampling of the neutral and anionic fragments was performed using
density functional theory (DFT). In all cases, a rearranged BDE that results from the fragmentation of
CO2 is the lowest energy pathway and all other pathways are higher in energy by ~ 30 kcal/mol.

Gregory Cabot, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Vaishali Batra, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Samantha McPeak, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Sushma Kotru, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Labview Programming for Research Analysis
LabVIEW programming is a graphical programming language commonly used for automated data
collection in a research environment. In this project, LabVIEW programs were created and used to
measure and record data for several research projects. The measurements included, but were not
limited to, temperature effect on resistivity of various electrode materials; current-voltage
measurements and photovoltaic response of PLZT thin film based solar cells. Results obtained on the use
of seed layer to enhance the photovoltaic response of PLZT film based solar cells will be presented.

Emily Capps, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Tricia Witte, Human Development and Family Studies
The Mediational Role of Marital Conflict in the Associations Between Parental Problem Drinking and
Children's Social Information Processing
Marital conflict and parental problem drinking has a strong link with children's maladjustment. The
objective of this study is to examine the effects of these variables on children's social information
processing. Around 60 participants will be brought in for this study through magazine subscription
databases, the local YMCA, and from Dr. John Lochman's Coping Powers group. Parent participants will
be completing questionnaires measuring level of marital aggression with the subscale of psychological
aggression. They will also be completing questionnaires about their daily drinking and also their drinking

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within the past year. Child participants will be completing questions regarding certain vignettes; those of
which contain ambiguous provocations. The dependent variables we will be examining are children's
hostile attribution biases, hostile goals, and aggressive strategies. The results of this study will help
future intervention methods regarding aggressive children.

Leighton Carlock, Religious Studies
Faculty Mentor: Steven Ramey, Religious Studies
Myth as Illusion
*International focus
The Ramayana is a story popular in India with many different tellings, but people across the globe have
interpreted it in various ways. In this research, I analyze three stories of Ramayana: the English
interpretation of Valmiki Sanskrit version, a comic book telling from Dreamland Publications, and the
story of Rama from the Warner Brothers film A Little Princess. My analysis focuses on each story's telling
of the abduction of the beloved Sita by the evil demon, Ravana. Through critical analysis, I compare each
of the three different interpretations. Ultimately, this research will show religious tellings as
interpretative and highlight political, social, and cultural biases incorporated in interpretation from
authors and readers, challenging this contemporary thought of the "correct" and "true" telling because
there is not one authoritative version of this story that exists.

Michael Carton, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Su Gupta, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Combined interface and bulk anisotropy free layers for MgO based MTJ
We have investigated the effect of Ta insertion thickness on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in
[Co/Pt multilayers]/Ta/CoFeB (hard/soft) composite free layer. We observed increase in PMA with
increase in Ta insertion thickness. We found that this increase of the effective anisotropy is associated
with bulk-type PMA of multilayers and enhancement of CoFeB/MgO interface anisotropy with Ta
insertion thickness. The interface anisotropy increased by more than 0.9 mJ/m2 as the Ta insertion
thickness increased from 0 nm to 0.5 nm. For insertions less than 0.6nm thick, the ferromagnetic
exchange was strong enough to switch the two layers together. The interlayer exchange coupling
changed from ferromagnetic to anti-ferromagnetic in nature for Ta insertion thicknesses above 0.7nm.
The Hk value for the composite free layer with 0.5nm thick Ta insertion was around 11 kOe, leading to a
high thermal stability factor, estimated around 152 for 20 nm nanodots. A micromagnetic model was set
up to study the effect of interlayer exchange coupling on switching current density and switching time.
The ab-initio calculations for Fe/MgO and Fe/Ta interfaces were performed for parameterization of the
micromagnetic model. We found that the switching current density increased with increase in the
coupling parameter, and thus the Ta insertion layer was not expected to degrade spin-torque transfer
(STT) switching characteristics.

Cole Cecchini, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Debra McCallum, Institute for Social Science Research
Helping Children Make Healthy Food Choices: Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Program
In response to high rates of obesity among rural youth, Progressive Agriculture Foundation (PAF) has
begun an initiative through their safety day program to improve the diets of elementary school children
by educating the students on overall healthy lifestyles and changing their school food environment to
encourage healthy choices.
The project was implemented through PAF Farm Safety Days held at five test sites and five control sites
in rural southern communities. During the safety days, youth attended sessions on various safety and
health topics. In the test sites, one of these units focused on healthy eating. Also, in test sites a

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workshop was conducted for adults to develop a strategic improvement plan (SIP) aligning the
educational outreach with concrete local goals to improve the school food program and track progress
toward those goals.
To evaluate the project, students completed pre- and post-tests before and after the safety day. One
year later, they will complete a follow-up test, and the test sites will be visited by researchers to
evaluate progress toward SIP goals. Data collection will be completed in spring, 2014, and test sites will
be compared to control sites that had no healthy eating lesson and no workshop. Results will indicate
whether goals outlined in the SIP were met and the impact the program had upon the participants. If
this pilot project is found to be effective, PAF will expand the program to include other rural
communities.

Sarah Chaffee, Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management
Emily Huie, Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management
Hannah Rath, Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management
Cassidy White, Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management
Faculty Mentor: Lori Greene, Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management
Effects of Community Based Garden Intervention on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Children: A
review
Background: One of the leading causes of premature death in the US is low fruit and vegetable intake.
Food preferences developed during childhood have been shown to have a great effect on food habits for
life.
Purpose: To determine the effect of community garden based interventions on fruit and vegetable
consumption among children.
Methods: Scientific databases were searched for relevant articles. Our inclusion criteria comprised of
articles that were focused on children, fruit and vegetable intake, and studies examining the effect of
exposure to community gardens.
Results: Gardening programs have been shown to promote intake, availability, and preference for fruits
and vegetables. Groups of children who received nutrition education as well as garden experience
showed higher preferences and consumption of fruits and vegetables and increased nutrition related
knowledge. Programs which involved parents showed increased availability of fruits and vegetables in
the home. Several surveys demonstrated support for community garden programs.
Conclusion: Community garden based nutrition interventions have been shown to be effective in
promoting fruit and vegetable intake among children which could decrease nutrition related health
disparities and improve overall health status in the future.

Siddhartha (Neil) Chakraborti, Economics, Finance and Legal Studies
Zhechen Yu, Culverhouse School of Accountancy
Faculty Mentor: David Ford, Management and Marketing
Impact Fees Study
This project seeks to determine the use, basis, rationale, and potential benefits of implementing an
impact fee for the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The project and presentation is divided up into three
basic phases. In the first phase, we define the impact fee, and discuss some theoretical implications,
and what local officials have determined as the most urgent needs for their individual departments and
if and how the impact fee can fix these. Next, we survey other cities and state governments that already
implement impact fees to understand their rationale, structure, and calculation. Finally, we attempt to
develop a hypothetical impact fee structure for Tuscaloosa.

Yang Chen, Psychology

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Tenisha Lynch, Psychology
James Cranford, Psychology
Kristy Shoji, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Natalie Dautovich, Psychology
Tossing and Turning: The Role of Anxious Arousal in Sleep Outcomes
Background: Many factors are involved in obtaining restorative sleep. Excessive arousal, which can occur
both physically and psychologically, is often implicated in poor sleep. The purpose of the present study
was to investigate the association of physiological arousal with multiple sleep variables.
Methods: An archival analysis was conducted using data from 314 adults participating in the Midlife in
the United States-II study. Participants completed the Mood and Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ)
about the prior week. The anxious arousal subscale of the MASQ was used as a measure of arousal.
Participants also wore actiwatches and completed sleep diaries for seven days.
Results: Bivariate correlational analyses showed that anxious arousal was significantly correlated with
the sleep diary variables of: sleep onset latency, r=.22, p

Possibly one of the most important discoveries in recent paleoanthropology, a finger bone and millions
of base pairs decoded from ancient DNA support the uncovering of a new hominid species known as
Denisovans that are claimed to have interacted with Neanderthals and Humans across Eurasia.

Catherine Cofer, Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Marco Bonizzoni, Chemistry
Solubilization of hydrophobic molecules by hyperbranched polyelectrolytes
Dendrimers are highly branched polymers that have been shown to increase the water solubility of
otherwise insoluble organic molecules. In particular, we have shown that poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)
dendrimers have the ability to preferentially increase the water solubility of hydrophobic aromatic
molecules. In order to prove this concept, we have conducted the dendrimer mediated extraction of
anthracene, a fluorescent aromatic hydrocarbon, from an organic solvent into a buffered neutral
aqueous solution. The phase transfer was monitored using fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The
increased fluorescence intensity of the water phase indicates that the anthracene molecules have been
transported from the organic to the water phase. Here we will first present results confirming the
dendrimer's preference for aromatic substrates, and the results from the extraction experiments. We
will also outline the work currently in progress in our group aimed at quantifying these interactions
through liquid membrane extraction experiments.

Ian Connell, Music
Faculty Mentor: Andrea Cevasco, Music
Hospice Music Therapy and The Six Domains of Human Experience
Music therapy (MT) is a multi-faceted healthcare profession that helps people cope with life and life
events. Hospice and palliative care (HPC) focus on improving quality of life (QOL), relieving pain and
distress at the end of life. The field of hospice music therapy has grown vastly in the past two decades,
and continues to grow as its benefits are documented. There are six domains in which MT can benefit
those in HPC settings: motor, cognitive, communication, social, emotional, and spiritual. By addressing
the unique needs of those receiving HPC in the final months of life, music therapists can improve QOL
using various MT techniques to benefit each of those six domains.

Keisha Cook, Mathematics
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Wilson, Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology and
Counseling
The Relationship Between African American K-12 Perceptions and Their Participation in STEM Fields
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between African American perspectives and
their participation in STEM fields. Within the category of African Americans in STEM fields, less females
are represented than males. In my study male and female perspectives will be examined separately to
determine the difference between the genders. The importance of this study is to examine if there is a
relationship between African American perceptions and choosing STEM fields.
The objective of this research is to examine the perspectives that African Americans have towards STEM
fields that affects their decision to pursue STEM fields. The main research question is the following:
What factors support and/or hinder African American participation in STEM fields? To answer this
question, the data will examine internal motivations, external influences, initiatives and programs that
affect the decisions of African Americans pursuing STEM fields. I hypothesize that students who have
positive motivators, influences and experiences will be more like to pursue STEM fields, than students
who have negative motivators, influences and experiences. By understanding the negative and positive
factors, a change can be made in K-12 education. This research will add a better idea of how to

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positively engage African American students in STEM subjects; consequently, leading to an increase in
African Americans in STEM fields.

Molly Cook, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Ryan Earley, Biological Sciences
Prey Response to Predation Risk in Acidified Environments
Acidified environments are the result of human-induced elevation of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide)
and pollutants (sulfuric acid). In unexposed environments, fish are able to sense chemical cues that
alert them to predation risk, allowing them to flee without being preyed upon. This may be due to the
presence of a cell within the epithelium of prey species called a club cell that when punctured, releases
a chemical to signal other fish in the area that a predator is successfully hunting. When a fish senses
either a predator cue or a club cell signal, it employs several tactics to escape or become less
conspicuous such as fleeing or freezing. In acidified environments, the ability to identify such cues as
being harmful becomes inhibited by altering the Cl- and HCO3- gradients in the brain causing GABA
receptors to become excitatory (instead of inhibitory). Such neurochemical changes inhibit fleeing
behavior and may even cause predator approach behavior. Our project first confirmed the presence of
epidermal club cells in mangrove rivulus, which never have been recorded in this fish or its family. We
then compared epidermal club cell abundance in fish exposed to predator cues alone and predator cues
combined with club cell alarm substances. With this information, we hope to examine how acidified
environments affect the recognition of alarm and predatory cues and whether behavioral changes that
result from exposure to acidified environments are inherited transgenerationally.

Jessica Crook, Capstone College of Nursing
Chelsea Costley, Capstone College of Nursing
Lee Chatham, Capstone College of Nursing
Brandon Caldwell, Capstone College of Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Paige Johnson, Capstone College of Nursing
Improving Nutritional Education for Children in Coaling, Alabama
Nutritional deficits and other factors contributing to poor health are common occurrences in smaller
rural towns. Specifically, one of these factors is a deficit in nutritional education. Health education is a
vital part of improving health. The purpose of this project is to evaluate aspects of the community in
Coaling, Alabama that affect it's members' health, and to describe an assessment of the community as a
whole. We also will propose an intervention related to health promotion that will be targeted at the
children of this community. This intervention, implemented at the school that the majority of the
children in Coaling attend, would aim to improve their nutritional knowledge on the subject of reading
and understanding food labels.

Anthony Curto, Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Papish, Chemistry
Analysis of Transformation of Iridium Water Oxidation Catalysts - What is the Nature of the True
Catalyst?
The Papish Group has found that the use of [Cp*Ir(N,N)Cl]Cl (Cp* = C5(CH3)5; N,N is a bidentate ligand)
as a catalyst is highly effective in water oxidation. The group uses both N,N = 6,6'-dhbp and 4,4'-dhbp
(where dhbp = C10N2H6(OH)2) and has found that they have been effective when combined with an
oxidant but they form an unknown blue species. Using UV-Vis analysis and measuring the absorbance at
different concentrations and over time we can gain more information into this unknown substance and
help determine whether it is forming nanoparticles or a different homogeneous species. Understanding
what is formed will help further investigation of the Iridium complexes and their role as catalysts.

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Nicholas Davies, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Eric Giannini, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
An App for Concrete Mixture Design
The design of concrete mixtures is a very relevant science in today's world. Whether it be for streets and
driveways, building foundations, or buildings themselves, the procedural approach to designing a
concrete mixture is necessary to ensure the concrete can satisfy its requirements.While professionals
and their companies have the tools to approach concrete mixture design with ease, the procedure can
be difficult and time consuming for students, DIY-ers, and others who may use it. By creating an Android
application that can handle all of the calculations of concrete mixture design while presenting a user-
friendly interface, the field may be made more approachable by a general audience, and the time spent
using repetitive calculations can be drastically reduced. The Android app currently in development
allows users to create mixtures by defining desired concrete properties and listing the materials on-
hand, then returns the necessary proportions to create the mixture. The specific mixtures created by the
user can then be saved and recalled or edited at a later time. Additionally, the saved mixtures can be
recalled to perform corrections for varying moisture content of the aggregates. Finally, the app is
designed to include tables and charts used for working through mixture design by hand, along with a
guide for the use of the app. Following the release of the application, it should be a comprehensive
utility used by many students in the concrete field.

Paul Davis, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Mentor: David Nikles, Chemistry
Nanotechnology in Knee Surgery
This project will examine how nanotechnology can be used in the future to aid in reconstructive knee
surgery procedures. Injuries to knee ligaments and cartilage are very common and often do not heal on
their own. This means that many of these injuries require surgery, which can require lengthy
rehabilitation times and are not always completely effective. However, nanotechnology has the
capability to improve the effectiveness of surgical repairs to two of the most commonly injured tissues:
the meniscus and the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Meniscus surgeries often consist of the removal
of the damaged portion of the meniscus. This is an inadequate fix that often leads to arthritis in the
future. Nanotechnology has the potential to give us a solution to this problem. In the future, doctors
may be able to use nanomaterials and meniscal cells from a patient to grow a new meniscus that can
then be implanted back into the patient. Nanotechnology can also impact ACL repairs, as it can be used
to create synthetic ligaments covered in nanoparticles that prevent the body from rejecting the
synthetic implant. Nanotechnology can also be used to aid bone sites in accepting implants, decreasing
the rate of implant failure. In the future, nanotechnology may give us the tools to reduce the
rehabilitation time of an ACL repair surgery to half of what it is now.

Alex Davis, English
Russell Robertson, English
Lauren Gilmer, English
Drew Pendleton, English
Faculty Mentor: Jessica Hollander, English
Analysis of Jewel in Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying"
In Faulkner's classic "As I Lay Dying" the character Jewel presents a complex dynamic exploring themes
of manhood, independence, and teenage angst. Through a letter written from Jewel's perspective,
utilizing various literary devices, we analyze his state of mind and driving forces and seek to understand
how his character relates universally.

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*The information presented here is intended to represent exactly what was submitted by the student. Errors can occur in the transfer process.